Culture and Globalization Essay Example for Free

Culture and Globalization Essay INTRODUCTION Identity is a question that may be expressed by an anxiety and a hope at the same time. The anxiety lies in the sense of the existence of our Moroccan identity in all its dimensions, Arabo-berber, Muslim negro-African and modern. It also lies in our existence in the world in different parts of the planet where we have decided, voluntarily or not, to assert our existence; a planet that has become a finished space, a global village, surrounded by all kinds of flows, economic, human, electronic, and cultural, which are aspects of globalization; a globalization that could not only be a kind of interdependence among the national spaces which existence is still alive but also an internal phenomenon in these spaces. The advantages and disadvantages of this multiform process can diverge from one partisan to another. Some see in it the chance of a new world and others see in it the risk of an incomparable oppression. The problem of the Arabo Islamic identity or Arab identity occupies the front of the scene. The Islamic world has never been so active in the sense of the expression of identity, maybe because of the more and more enigmatic character of this identity because as Dryush Shayagan reminds, more than the ethnic and the religious identities, we find a third one in addition that emerges from modernity. He adds that the three identities fit one into the other, create more and more complex fields of interference, and exploit territories that remain most of the time incompatible with each other. He goes on declaring that today, these identical cultures are situated between the â€Å"not yet† and the â€Å"never ever†: not yet modern and never ever traditional. These identities that live henceforth, in â€Å"between the two† are totally burst according to Dryush.[1] At first glance, this triple identity raises obstacles to communication, but on the condition of succeeding in fitting out their respective spaces, it offers on the other hand, new possibilities of communication. The assertion of a reactive and massive Arabian Islamic identity was the adequate answer to the colonial dominion. Today, however, the reflection has to fit and adapt itself to the requirements of a situation namely, globalization, that orders that identity becomes seen as open, diverse and it has to be attentive to pluralism in the internal as well as the external places. We can think that the new network of information and communication will favour the emergence of new forms of citizenship susceptible to fill the current democratic deficit. Media permanently present information in the different parts of the world. With the means of information which the internet network prefigures today, the individual can have a more active role in the search for information. One can also contact a multitude of people of different nationalities, discuss problems of public interest, and express his/her opinions in public forums. GLOBALIZATION, CULTURE, AND THE MOROCCAN IDENTITY It is crucial to see globalization from an academic point of view as there is a strong link bounding globalization and culture. The global culture belongs to what Simon During calls â€Å"transnationalization.†[2] This latter is the process by which cultural products extend their actual space to emerge in a global area. Cultural studies are a kind of reaction to this process. Going deeper in this perspective, we come across many points that may link globalization to culture if we consider that culture is a local issue that may be influenced by the global market, the global sight, or may itself influence the global sphere if it is considered as a tradition or a way of life. Culture, from another view, maybe considered as the basis of the construction of one’s identity but once influences by globalization, the identity may change and we may adopt some practices and beliefs that may be no more appropriate to the local culture. Education is another point where globalization and culture meet. Students nowaydays, are no more interested by some issues tackling family or social events, but rather opt to get aware of the global economic and capitalistic changes that the actual world witnesses. Culture is a part of our identity. If we change culture, we change our identity. Stewart Hall argues that in a changing history, identity should remain the same though it is far from being the case of the modern world we’re living in and where identities are in a permanent process of change and transformation and this is the result of globalization. Always according to Hall, the construction of identity is made by the sight of the other. In other words, the negative view on the other makes of our identity a positive one. The process of constructing identity then is based on opposition. If the sight of the other makes of us who we really are, we are then no more free to chose according to our own tastes but rather chose according to others’ reactions[3]. This may seem ambiguous in a sense and annoying in another. How can globalization affect our own sense of belonging? Belonging to a particular nation and adopting a specific culture is not a matter of choice, it is because we belong to a certain ethnic group that has its own tradition, culture and religion. Once we find ourselves involved in a pre-created world, the acceptance becomes an automatic reaction, but when our sense of belonging to a cultural space or another becomes guided by the global pressures, our identity gets hurt and our mind fragmented and confused between what is ours and what is theirs (what is local and what is global). â€Å"The global popular† is the means of communication that occupies an important place in the projection of visual images to spread information (TV, satellite, internet†¦). If I insist on citing the global popular as one of the links between globalization and culture, it is because I judge it of a high importance and necessity to remind the idea that Simon During came with and which expresses the impossibility to separate the global popular from the global culture. He kept arguing that the reason was not only that both of them belong to a single globalizing system but also because the relation between various forms of cultural products are changing and transacting.[4] Similarly, Arjun Appadurai cited in his essay â€Å"Modernity at Large† one of the most important means of the circulating forms which is the â€Å"mediascape†. Like the global popular, mediascapes allow any information to become local through all kinds of the modern media. By this way the local culture may be adopted by different societies and consequently be global.[5] GLOBALIZATION AND MEDIA Today globalization arouses number of controversies. The term by itself condenses anxieties: it evokes, quite at the same time, the shrinkage of the planet bound to technological innovations and the massive impact of the triumphant capitalism that imposes its extreme dominance. Appadurai approaches, in a frontal way, the question of globalization. He put in the centre of his analysis the notion of flows. For him, what defines the contemporary world is much more circulation than structures and stable organizations. The proof is quite clear when we see people constantly moving from one place to another and the extraordinary development of mass communication with images transited throughout the planet. Until then, the individual lived and conceived himself in certain limits. From a simple geopolitical point of view, the nation state was considered as a stable referent: within it, the dimension of the local used to have a great importance conferring to each individual in a given society their privileged points of anchoring. In this context, the identical constructions occur in a permanent game of opposition between the self and the other, between the inside and the outside. But migrations on the one hand, and the media flows on the other hand, disrupted the spreading order until then. What interests Appadurai is the way this situation not only alters the material life of people but also tends to give an incomparable role to imagination. This does not mean that previously societies have not abundantly, neither in their mythological, literary nor artistic productions, appealed to this faculty. Henceforth, imagination is no more limited in some specific domains of expression, but it changes the daily practices, notably the migratory situations where migrants find themselves obliged to create in their exile a world of them by using all the images that media allow them to receive.[6] The technological progress: Internet The cable and internet offer multiple means to reconstitute communities including migrants and those who stayed in their countries. When we come across globalization of communication we inevitably think of internet. Internet is considered to be the symbol of and at the same time, a vehicle for the development of the future mediatic landscape. As a polymorphic tool spread everywhere, internet is actually inescapable in the study of the actual communication processes. If we consider internet as a media, we automatically notice that it is a quite particular one. Among modern mass media, internet is characterized by a potentially or at least virtually wide broadcasting. It is one of the facets of the internet ideology: everybody can have access to messages, everywhere and so to speak with no constraints, and at the same time, internet presents specific characteristics that make of it an exceptional media. Unlike press or radio-television that necessitate material and financial means, licenses, and a diffusion and distribution network, by internet everything is easier. Everybody can be a transmitter and everybody is potentially provider of contents but not everybody can create his/her own television station contrary to internet by which each one –or almost– can create a web site with only an online computer. All this is almost free more than the accommodating of private individuals that is also, more or less, free. If we consider internet as a media, it is then the time in the history of mass communication when each citizen and each association has the ability to play in the same ground as that of the wide mediatic groups or the big companies. Yve Thiran states that from this point of view, internet is a means of communication par excellence and it is not surprising that the excluded traditional media were the first to use it.[7] What seems to be new in the case of internet is not really the fact that it facilitates the emergence of multiple forms of sites and more or less alternative means of information, but rather the fact that the local structuralizations have voluntarily or not, reached the world as a whole. The neighbouring radio station’s diffusion is limited in the neighbourhood, while the expression on the Net may give the impression to address the whole planet. A neighbouring radio station, once installed in the web, can be heard by the whole world. Contrary to the press of radio-television, internet still looks for its place in the media landscape[8] grouping sites together, contents, services and very (too) diverse possibilities to aspire to a real unit of speech (but it is not probably the purpose of internet neither), in a social gratitude other than the connotations that can be socially planed on the new technologies of information and communication in general. In other words, as we find everything on internet, it is still its strict technical dimension that allows an observer to apprehend it, to seize it mentally and conceptually and to succeed in defining it differently. What is internet then? It is a media, a commercial space, a means of information, a shop window, and a place for exchange and expression; that is to say, so many activities where the interlocutors position themselves differently. The telephone is not a newspaper; nevertheless, internet can be at the same time a telephone and a newspaper, an advertisement hoarding and a room of debate. CONCLUSION Born Jamaican, the English cultural theorist Stuart Hall argued that identity must be understood in terms of politics of localization, of location and statement –not as a process of discovery of lost roots but as the construction of a new or emergent shape of ourselves, linked at the same time to the actual social relations and to the contemporary power relations–. While most of us clearly wish to respect most of the aspects of our tradition and history, Hall suggests that we also need, for speaking, to understand languages which we were not taught. We need to understand and revalue the traditions and inheritances of cultural expressions in a new and creative way as the context in which they are produced evolves constantly.[9] [1] Shayagan Dryush,  « La Lumià ¨re vient de l’Occident,  » Paris : l’Aube, 2001, Entretiens du XXI Sià ¨cle,  « Oà ¹ Vont les Valeurs,  » UNESCO, Abbin Michel, Paris, 2004. [2] Simon During,  « Postcolonialism and Globalization,  » Culture, Globalization and the World System, ed., Anthony King, Dinghamton, 1991. [3] Stuart Hall,  « Old and New Identities, Old and New Ethnicities,  » Culture, Globalization and the World System, Current Debates in Art History 3, State of New York: Bihghamton, 1991, pp. 41-68. [4] Arif Dirlik,  « The Local in the Global,  » Global/Local: Cultural Production and the Transnational Imaginary, eds., Rob Wilson and William Dissanayake, Durham: Duke UP, 1996. [5] Arjun Appadurai,  « Modernity at Large,  » Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, Public Worlds, Vol. 1, London: University of Minnesota Press, 1996. [6] Arjun Appadurai, Aprà ¨s le Colonialisme, Paris : Payot, 2001. [7] Yve Thiran, Sexes, Monsenges et Internet, Bruxelles : Castells-Labor, Coll.  « quartier Libre,  » 2000, p. 42. [8] Yve Thiran shows that the internet needs traditional media such as television to be able to claim the impact that it had notably during the Clinton-Lewinsky affaire. (Thiran, p. 43) [9] Stuart Hall,  « Old and New Identities, Old and New Ethnicities,  » Culture, Globalization and the World System, Current Debates in Art History 3, State of New York: Bihghamton, 1991, pp. 41-68.

Biographies of Karl Marx and Frederich Engels Essay -- Marx Engels Bio

Biographies of Karl Marx and Frederich Engels Karl Marx and Frederich Engels collaborated to introduce the liberal ideas of Communism. The Communist Manifesto was their byproduct that was introduced in January of 1828. Marx and Engels lives were drastically different from each other, although they both agreed upon the fundamental ideas of it. Marx’s idea of being an individual stemmed from the life that he lived. Marx found that his ideas were often not accepted in various societies but this did not stop him from professing them. Marx found that his personal ideas could be expressed freely, not in his own country, but in other countries. This soon became a problem because his homeland of Germany tried to oppress him through pressure. Engels life was different because of the family that he came from. Engels was born into the life of a middle-upper class family that allowed him more freedom in his life. Engels found that his individual ideas were accepted from the start but he was not as liberal as Marx. With the experience s and oppression that the men faced for their ideas, it is amazing to see how the Communism Manifesto was established. Karl Marx (1818- 1883) Karl Marx is an intriguing and fascinating man. He was born on May 5, 1818 from two German Jewish parents. Marx’s father was a prominent lawyer in Trier. Marx’s father converted to Lutheranism to safeguard his livelihood. This event did influence Marx’s later view of religion and conformism. His mother was from a long line of rabbis, but these religious beliefs played a small role in his life. He was baptized at age six, but this was the extent his encounter with religion as a child, which prevailed later in his life as he proclaimed himself an atheist. Marx stu... ...Both Marx and Engels believed that the individual should not be repressed in a governmental system. Their thoughts on these ideas came from the events that shaped their lives. Together the dynamite combination of Marx and Engels created a Communist theory that shaped society. Notes [i] Carver, Terrell ed., The Cambridge Companion to Marx (United States: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 4-6. [ii] Koren, Henry J., Marx and the Authentic Man (Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press, 1967), 1. [iii] Lenin, â€Å"Biographical Article on Frederich Engels,† Engels Biography by Lenin, (10 March 2002). [iv] Brian Basgen, â€Å"Karl Marx By: Frederick Engels,† Karl Marx Biography, (08 March 2002).

Determination of Water Hardness Essay

Introduction: In this lab a total of six titrations are to be performed. Three of them will be done using a known Ca2+ solution, (1.000 g CaCO3 /L solution) and three of them will be done using an unknown solution obtained from the stock room. The objective of this lab is to determine the hardness of water, using the data collected from each titration performed with the unknown sample. Since the hardness of water arises from the presence of metal ions, we can use disodium salt of EDTA and the indicator Eriochrome Black T to determine the concentration of M 2+ ( Mg 2+ or Ca 2+) metal ion impurities. Chemical principle or theory involved in this lab: To determine waters hardness we will use a technique called a chelometric titration. â€Å"When a neutral molecule or anion (lewis base) donates electron pairs and attaches itself to a metal ion center (a Lewis acid), the resulting cluster of atoms forms a single ion called a complex. When such complexes form the electron donating groups are called ligands. When ligands with more than one binding site form complexes with metal ions, we call this process chelation, where the ligand used is called a chelating agent. † (lab manual) In this lab the chelating agent used is Na2EDTA. Our Indictor Eriochrome Black T, is a dye, and will form a pink complex in the presence of a metal cation. As EDTA solution is added to the solution, the metal ions will complex to the EDTA solution leaving the indicator solvated. The chemical equation, with the known calcium ion solution, looks as follows: Where H2In ¯ represents the solvated indicator Erichrome Black T dye. H2In ¯ + Ca 2+ â‡Å' CaIn ¯ + 2H (blue) (pink) As EDTA is added to the solution, it grabs the Ca ions away from the Erichrome Black T dye molecules to form a more stable complex. When solvated, and alone in the solution, the Erichrome Black T dye will produce a blue color; it can be represented by the equation below: EDTA 4 ¯ + CaIn ¯ + 2H → H2In ¯ + CaEDTA 2 ¯ (pink) (blue) Procedure or Method: First prepare your disodium EDTA solution by weighing out 0.7- 0.8 grams of Na2EDTA and dissolve it in 500 mL’s of deionized water. Place in a sealed container and shake vigorously. Standardize the Na2EDTA solution using calcium ion stock solution: Add 10 mL of calcium solution to a flask, and add 30 mL’s of deionized water. Add 3 mL’s of ammonium chloride buffer under the fume hood and stir. Add 4 drops of the Eriochrome Black T indicator dye, then titrate with the disodim EDTA solution within 15 min’s. At the endpoint the color changes from pink to violet to blue within 3-5 seconds. Note the volume of Na2EDTA that was used delivered from the burret, and repeat the titration 2 more times. Obtain an unknown water stock solution from the stock room taking note of the unknown number, then titrate with the standardized disodium EDTA solution: Mix 25 mL’s of the prepared water sample with 20 mL’s of deionized water, then under the fume hood, add 3 mL’s of ammonium chloride buffer and stir. Add 4 drops of the Eriochrome Black T indicator dye, then titrate with the disodim EDTA solution within 15 minute’s Repeat the titration 2 more times, and calculate the hardness of the prepared water sample from each of the titrations. Observations and Calculations: Amount of Na2EDTA solution Amount of Na2EDTA solution   required to titrate calcium Ion solution required to titrate unknown H2O sample Trial 1 25.0 mL15.7 mL Trail 2 23.8 mL14.9 mL Trial 3 23.6 mL15.5 mL Because EDTA chelates Ca 2+ ions in a one-to-one molar ratio we can calculate the moles present of Na2EDTA using the following formula(s): Trial 1: [Na2EDTA] = 10.00 mL CaCO3 Ãâ€" 1.000 g CaCO3 Ãâ€" 1mol CaCO3 Ãâ€" 1mol Na2EDTA 25.0 mL Na2EDTA 1 L CaCO3 100.1g CaCO3 1 mol CaCO3 =.004 moles Na2EDTA Trial 2: [Na2EDTA] = 10.00 mL CaCO3 Ãâ€" 1.000 g CaCO3 Ãâ€" 1mol CaCO3 Ãâ€" 1mol Na2EDTA 23.8 mL Na2EDTA 1 L CaCO3 100.1g CaCO3 1 mol CaCO3 =.004197 moles Na2EDTA Trial 3: [Na2EDTA] = 10.00mL CaCO3 Ãâ€" 1.000 g CaCO3 Ãâ€" 1mol CaCO3 Ãâ€" 1mol Na2EDTA 23.6 mL Na2EDTA 1 L CaCO3 100.1g CaCO3 1mol CaCO3 =.004233 moles Na2EDTA Mean of all 3 trials = .004 + .004197 + .004233 / 3 = .004143 Absolute deviation: Estimated Precision(ppt): Trial 1: |[.004143] – [.004] = [1.43 x 10^-4]| .02229 X 1000 = 23.09 ppt .004143 Trial 2: |[.004143] – [.004197] = [-5.4 x 10^-5]| Trial 3: |[.004143] – [.004233] = [-9 x 10^-5]| H2O hardness Calculated: Trial 1: 15.7 mL Na2EDTA X .004143mol Na2EDTA X 1mol CaCO3 X 100.1g CaCO3 0.02500 L CaCO3 1L Na2EDTA 1mol Na2EDTA 1mol CaCO3 Trial 1 H2O hardness = 260.44 ppm Trial 2: 14.9 mL Na2EDTA X .004143mol Na2EDTA X 1mol CaCO3 X 100.1g CaCO3 0.02500 L CaCO3 1L Na2EDTA 1mol Na2EDTA 1mol CaCO3 Trial 2 H2O hardness = 247.17 ppm Trial 1: 15.5 mL Na2EDTA X .004143mol Na2EDTA X 1mol CaCO3 X 100.1g CaCO3 0.02500 L CaCO3 1L Na2EDTA 1mol Na2EDTA 1mol CaCO3 Trial 3 H2O hardness = 257.12 ppm Average H2O hardness for unknown # 127 = 254.91 ppm Conclusion: The average water hardness for unknown 127 is 254.91 ppm. City of Gilberts average water hardness in 2011 was in the range of 41- 330 ppm (http://www.3mwater.com/medi/documents/ WaterReport_GilbertAZ.pdf). This is a large range but is a range that my unknown water sample would fall within. According to Fairfax Water, a value over 180 ppm is considered â€Å"very hard†, and according to the lab manual water with more than 200 ppm is considered hard. Based on this information I would conclude that my unknown water sample has a high amount of metal ions present. References: Lab Manual City of Gilbert, â€Å"http://www.3mwater.com/medi/documents/WaterReport_GilbertAZ.pdf† FairFax Water, â€Å"http://www.fcwa.org/water/hardness.htm†

Informative Speech The Funny Thing About Introverts

Informative Speech: I. Introduction: Attention Getter: â€Å"The funny thing about introverts is once they feel comfortable with you, they can be the funniest, most enjoyable people to be around. It’s like a secret they feel comfortable sharing with you. Except the secret is their personality.† (Unknown). B. Background and Audience Relevance: Introversion is a personality trait, which is viewed as quiet. The words introversion and extroversion came from Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Carl Jung. C. Speaker Credibility: Remember in middle school and high school when you use to vote most likely or this person is? Remember there would be a category of who was shy or quiet? That would always be me. Or people would ask me why or say that I’m so quiet. Does it bother me? No not really, it’s true. It can be annoying though because it just feels like your lips are shut and you don’t know what to say. Although, I wasn’t always an introvert until I had to switch schools after fifth grade. How did that happen? I don’t really know but that is what I will be talking about today. D. Thesis: Introverts may seem anti-social but they are outgoing once you get to know them. E. Preview of Main Points: First, I’ll be talking about what introversion is and the causes; secondly, the myths of introversion. And lastly, signs if you’re an introvert. Transition to first main point: Let’s take a look at what introversion is and why these people are quiet. II. Main Point 1:Show MoreRelatedInformative Speech : Introverts 1152 Words   |  5 PagesComm 150- 42 â€Å"Introverts† Informative Speech: I. Introduction: A. Attention Getter: â€Å"The funny thing about introverts is once they feel comfortable with you, they can be the funniest, most enjoyable people to be around. It’s like a secret they feel comfortable sharing with you. Except the secret is their personality.† (Unknown). B. Background and Audience Relevance: Introversion is a personality trait, which is viewed as quiet. The words introversion and extroversion came from Swiss psychiatrist